togliere il fiato
Italian
Alternative forms
- mozzare il fiato
- togliere il respiro
Etymology
Literally, "to remove the breath."
Verb
togliere il fiato (a)
- to take someone's breath away
- una bellezza da togliere il fiato ― a breath-taking beauty (literally, “a beauty that takes one's breath away”)
- 2013, chapter 1, in F. Scott Fitzgerald; Ferruccio Russo, transl., Il Grande Gatsby [The Great Gatsby], Edizioni Scientifiche e Artistiche, page 40:
- La sua famiglia era smisuratamente facoltosa – anche all'università il suo rapporto disinvolto col denaro era motivo di biasimo – ma ora aveva lasciato Chicago e se n'era venuto nell'Est con un tono, uno stile che toglieva il fiato...
- His family were enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach – but now he'd left Chicago and come east in a fashion that rather took your breath away...
- (literally, “His family was exceedingly wealthy – even in college his free and easy relationship with money was a reason for reproach – but he had left Chicago and came to the East with a tone, a style that took one's breath away...”)
- to bother insistently; to pester
- Synonyms: assillare, annoiare; see also Thesaurus:infastidire